Ukraine clashed with North Korean troops for the first time, minister says
“We expect more engagements in the coming weeks,” Ukraine's defense minister adds.
Ukraine’s military battled North Korean troops for the first time since Pyongyang sent its forces to aid Russia, Ukraine’s defense minister confirmed on Tuesday.
Rustem Umerov said there were “small-scale clashes” between Kyiv’s forces and North Korean soldiers, in an interview with South Korean media. He did not provide further details.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said Monday that North Korean soldiers “have already come under fire” in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
Asked if the engagement meant North Korea had officially joined the war, Umerov replied: “Yes, I think so. It was a clash.”
“We expect more engagements in the coming weeks,” he added.
More than 10,000 North Korean soldiers are now in the Kursk region to assist Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Saturday for Kyiv’s allies to lift their ban on long-range missile strikes into Russian territory so that Ukraine can hit North Korea’s troops.
“Everyone is just waiting for the North Korean military to start attacking Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
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